A Padded Cell Offers ‘Catharsis’ for Machine Head in New Video

We're just over one month away from the release of Catharsis, Machine Head's ninth full length offering. Robb Flynn has cautioned that the album deviates from the band's standard levels of heaviness, entertaining their more melodic and groove-centric side. We already got a taste with "Beyond the Pale" and now MH have released a video for the title track, a song that adheres to Flynn's words.

Dressed in dirt-caked white straightjackets, the members of Machine Head writhe in padded cells while other nameless characters, also clothed in stained white linens, move about with slinky, exaggerated movements. Their airy movements fall in line with the soothing refrain of "Catharsis," where Flynn's split personality vocals take on a calming tone. Elsewhere, his approach is manic, seething through clenched teeth with his familiar gritty attack. The setting for the video drives home the opposing musical forces present on the track, which constantly alternate between sustained chords padded with melodic flourishes and trench digging grooves.

“When we were writing the record I’d get up at 4:30 in the morning, damn near every day and I’d just write lyrics,” says Flynn. “80 percent was garbage, but 20 percent of it was gold and the things I liked this time round were just really clear, really straight ahead, completely non- metaphorical, coarse, vulgar language. The language of hip-hop, the language of how people speak in the streets, how we speak now. I didn’t want somebody to go ‘Oh I wonder if he’s talking about...’ No, you know exactly what the fuck I’m singing about. It may not be PC, but at the same time, we’re releasing an incredible amount of emotions on this album.”

Catharsis is set for release on Jan. 26 through Nuclear Blast and can be pre-ordered at the label's webstore. Machine Head will then embark on another "Evening With" tour starting Jan. 25. The run will see the band performing for two-and-a-half to three hours according to Flynn and will come to a close over a month later on March 7. Go here to see if Machine Head are dropping by you.